CSI Update Issue 6

the Centre for Social Impact
Academic Excellence fit for Social Purpose

CSI Update, Issue 6, December 2008

Message from the CEO

Australia is fortunate to have such a strong and vibrant community sector. Last week I was in Parramatta to launch Think Local at the Western Sydney Community Forum produced by SONG (Small Organisations, Non-Government). It sets out, very convincingly, why SONG’s are so important to healthy democratic communities. The enthusiasm of those present served as a persuasive and energising reminder of how much social impact is delivered at the local level.  

At CSI, too, success has been achieved through a hundred different initiatives, delivered as part of a coherent strategy. 

As 2008 draws to a close we look back on the wonderful whirlwind of CSI’s exciting first ten months of operations with a sense of pleasure and achievement.

Our Board has provided effective governance. Our Advisory Councils in Sydney and Melbourne are well established and their meetings have already provided stimulating and valuable guidance. A stellar academic staff has been recruited in Cheryl Kernot, Mark Lyons and Gianni Zappala. With our partner universities they are working hard on the Graduate Certificate of Social Impact to be offered for the first time in 2009. An undergraduate course on the social economy is also planned for introduction at UNSW. 

Two significant research projects are already underway. Others are being readied. Plans are in train for a major international research conference in 2009. Our executive course program is growing apace as our reputation builds, with eight courses offered between August and November this year and a further 50 courses and events planned for 2009. Our speaker events have proven lively occasions for debate about emerging issues in the third sector, including the recent Sydney dinner for emerging leaders. I urge you to visit our website which is attracting growing numbers of visitors to its podcasts and videos. 

Our latest innovation is KnowledgeConnect, an exciting new digest of news and research which is introduced to you more fully below. And last but not least, we have achieved the important goal of obtaining matching funding for our Commonwealth seed grant with the generous support of the Macquarie Group Foundation, AMP, NAB, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bain and Company, Robin Crawford, David Gonski, Warwick Negus, Daniel Petre and the Helen Smith McPherson Trust. Needless to say the challenge of fundraising never ends as we work to build our long term capital base. Like any respectable not-for-profit institution, our ambitions will always outstrip our resources! 

A summary of all our activities can be found in our State of Play report which is available for download from our website.  

May I take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and enthusiasm for the Centre’s work to date. I look forward to bringing you more exciting developments throughout 2009, and hope to see you at one of our events or courses during the year. Meanwhile on behalf of all of us at CSI, I wish you a safe and joyous holiday season.

Peter Shergold,
Chief Executive,
Macquarie Group Foundation Chair.
csi.edu.au

KnowledgeConnect  
We are delighted to introduce you to KnowledgeConnect with this issue of our Update. It is a quarterly literature review of the latest thinking on social impact edited by Barbara Merz, formerly the Director of the Philanthropy Program at Harvard's Global Equity Initiative and now an independent consultant in the not-for-profit sector in Sydney. KnowledgeConnect provides succinct summaries of publications noteworthy to social sector leaders and innovators. It seeks to stimulate dialogue within the social sector by selecting from a broad and eclectic swath of international sources. Its release on the CSI website each quarter will coincide with the CSI newsletter. We hope you enjoy the first issue with its focus on market dynamics, from the expansion of social investment in the UK to the dawn of non-profit IPOs and a tale of doggy excess in US philanthropy.

Executive courses 
Our 2008 executive courses have ranged across understanding government compacts through embedding CSR in strategy, to collaborative leadership, measuring social investment, and financial management. In 2009 we will extend our focus on topical issues in the field of social impact with courses in social enterprise and social innovation, values management, corporate responsibility and sustainability, volunteering, ethics, collaborative leadership and strategy. These will be led by the best Australian presenters and a number of top international academics. Please watch our website in early 2009 for the new calendar of courses. Dates have been finalised for our course on Third Sector/Not-for-Profit Management, to be taught be Geoff Waring, Senior Fellow at the Australian School of Business.

Research  
Since joining CSI in October as Director of Research, Mark Lyons has been working with CSI partners on two research projects. One is focused on learning more about the Australian experience with workplace giving. It is coordinated by the Australian Charities Fund and PricewaterhouseCoopers and includes the other two providers: CAF Australia and United Way Sydney. A second project is the initiative of United Way Sydney and the Sydney Community Foundation and is designed to identify how social investments in Sydney’s nonprofit organisations can best encourage innovation and address social need. Mark is also connecting with university researchers whose interests coincide with those of the CSI to explore the most effective methods for collaboration. Meanwhile he is planning our international conference for August 2009 designed to introduce leading edge researchers from Australia and around the world in fields such as CSR, social impact, social innovation and the social economy.
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